The Chhattisgarh Excessive Courtroom in a current order dismissed two petitions searching for quashing of an FIR registered by Kota police in April this 12 months towards professors of Guru Ghasidas Central College in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district for purportedly asking 155 college students to provide namaz on Eid throughout a Nationwide Service Scheme (NSS) camp.
The Excessive Courtroom cited a Supreme Courtroom ruling from 2021, which stated courts shouldn’t thwart any investigation into cognisable offences and never scuttle felony proceedings on the preliminary stage, and that the ability to quash proceedings ought to be exercised sparingly.
“When a prayer for quashing the FIR is made by the alleged accused, the court docket when it workout routines the ability underneath Part 482 CrPC, solely has to contemplate whether or not or not the allegations within the FIR disclose the fee of a cognizable offence and isn’t required to contemplate on deserves whether or not the allegations make out a cognizable offence or not and the court docket has to allow the investigating company/police to analyze the allegations within the FIR,” the Excessive Courtroom noticed.
One petition searching for quashing of the FIR was filed by the coordinator for the NSS camp, Professor Dilip Jha, who was arrested within the case and was granted bail. The second petition was filed by six assistant professors, who had been additionally named as accused within the case. As per the FIR, the scholars had gone to Shivtarai village in March this 12 months as a part of the NSS camp, and on the day of Eid, non-Muslims college students had been additionally purportedly requested to supply namaz together with the Muslim college students. The petitioners deny that any pupil was compelled to supply namaz.
The counsel for the professors argued that the grievance by college students was lodged on April 14, after a delay of 14-15 days, and that the grievance was “politically motivated”. Although 150 college students participated within the camp, solely three lodged the FIR, the petitioners argued.
“The contributors weren’t compelled by the petitioners to supply namaz, and on a false accusation, the police registered the offence,” the counsel argued.
Then again, the counsel for the state argued, “The petitioners, by utilizing phrases and visual representations, compelled the complainants, who belong to the Hindu faith, to supply namaz.”
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Chhattisgarh Excessive Courtroom Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Rakesh Mohan Pandey dismissed the petition, mentioning that the petitioners are already out on bail, investigations are ongoing, and observations can’t be made on the deserves of the case.